Carriage-top



.UNITED sra'rns rarnnr orrion.

R. S. JENNINGS, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

CAR-RIAGrET`OP.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,925, dated March 31, 1857.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, R. S. J'ENNINGS, of

Waterbury, in` the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a `new and useful Improvement in Carriage- Tops;r and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthesame, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part o-f this specification,` in which- Figure l, is a front view of my improvement. Fig. 2, is a vertical section of ditto, the plane of section cutting the bows transversely. Fig. 3, is a plan or top view of ditto, the covering being bisected horizontally.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment of a transverse hinge joint l), on each of the bows of the carriage cover at the center of their top or horizontal portion, in combination with staples cl, CZ, and two pairs of bars o, c, c, o, which are pivoted at one end to the front and back bows and at the other end are each provided with a slot c1 and furnished with a hook e, as presently described.

I am `aware that carriage covers have been made to fold back so as to reduce their length and also in a manner to reduce their height. An arrangement for eecting these changes being shown in the carriage top of Mr. Scripture but never to my knowledge have they been made to fold laterally, in so simple a manner and at so small a cost, and into so small a compass before my invention.

The great advantage of my arrangement over that of Scriptures is this: Script-ures can only be folded up as all tops are by throwing them back, with the simple addition of folding only one half of the side of the bow, and thus reducing its height, up into the top, which method of' folding does not bring the cover into as small a compass as is desirable and beside this the cover is unsteady and weak at the points where the joints are formed and even if this were not so other objections exist-one is that it is necessary to make considerable change in the carriage body and incur some expense in order to apply it, and its application also is limited to one kind of seat and that kind is now almost entirely out of use in all light work; whereas with my arrangement the cover is folded at the center of its top and one bow made to fold partly upon another in a manner to bring it into a very small compass and in a condition for convenient handling and stowing away. And beside this no change of consequence in order to apply to anyand every kind of vehicle in use has to be made as presently shown, and when applied it is very steady'and firm and has the appearance of an ordinary carriage cover.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it. j

A, Fig. l, represents the seat of a vehicle and B, represents the front bow of the top. In Figs. 2 and 3, three bows B, C, D, are seen, being all the top contains. These bows are of the usual shape or form and are constructed of the usual material.

Each bow is formed of two parte, or, in other words, each bow is divided or cut into two parts at the center of its bend, as shown clearly at a, Figs. l and 3, and the two parts are connected by a joint or hinge b, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The front and back bows B, D, have each a metal bar c, attached to them, one at each side. The bars of each bow B, D, when moved up in a horizontal position overlap each other and a slot is made through the inner ends of the bars through which eyes d, attached to the sides of the center bow C, pass-and hooks e, attached to the bars c, of the back bow I), pass through the eyes and secure the bars to the center bow C. The bars c, when secured in a horizontal position and connected to the center bow as shown retain or hold the bows in proper relative position with each other,

The lower ends of the bows have tenons f, formed on them as shown in Figs. l and 2, and these tenons when the top is adjusted to the vehicle are fitted in mortises g, made in the sides of the seat or in the sides of the body of the vehicle, see Fig. l.

From the above description of parts it will be seen that when the tenons f, are fitted in the mortises or recesses g, and the bars c, adjusted as shown, the top will be permanently secured to the vehicle.

To detach the top, the tenons f, are wit-hdrawn from the mortises or recesses g, and the bars o, are released or detached from the center bow C, as shown in Fig. 2. When the bars o, are detached from the bow C, the bows may be folded as shown in red Fig. 3,

vwhich are expensive.

and the top consequently may be placed in a small compass and stowed away without occupying much space.

The above improvement is designed chietly for vehicles in which the to-ps are only occasionally required. The drivers seats of omnibuses, for instance, may have my improvement applied to them at a small expense, and in stormy weather it will serve as a great protection to the driver. In pleasant weather the top may be detached and when folded may be placed in the box underneath the seat. lVagons used by peddlers and others in transporting goods may have my improvement applied either to the seat or to the body of the wagon, and pleasure wagons may also have my improvement applied to the seat. There is also this advantage attending my improvement. It may be cheaply constructed, much more so than the ordinary top, because the latter requires considerable iron work, etc.,

These tops also require to be permanently attached to the vehicle.

I would remark that the tenons f, may be secured in the mortises g, by set screws 7L, and the cover, Ashown in blue and designated by i, may be constructed of any proper material.

I do not claim having carriage covers to fold up into a smaller compass or in a manner to reduce their length by falling back; neither do I claim having them to fold so as to reduce their. height by means of a joint in the vertical portion of the front bows as in Scriptures arrangement, but

l/Vhat I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

The employment of a transverse hinge joint b, on each of the bows B, C, D, at the center of their top or horizontal portion in combination with staples d, (l, and two pair of bars o, c, c, c, which are pivoted at one end to the front bows and at the other end are each provided with a slot c, and furnished with a hook e, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

R. S. JENNINGS.

Witnesses:

C. F. JONES, A. B. ALLEN. 

